Back to Homepage

4.3 Mineral Resource

---

Vocabulary

---

gemstone- a stone that is a colorful and hard mineral that has a glassy or brilliant luster
ore- a rock that has metals in it or economically useful minerals
alloy- a solid mixture of two or more metals that are combined

Outline

---

The Uses of Minerals

• minerals can be used to make metals, gemstones, and other materials used to make many products
• gemstones
  • people value gemstones for their luster, color, and durability
  • some are very expensive
  • once a gemstone has been properly cut and polished, it is then called a gem
    • gems are mostly used for jewelry and decoration
• metals
  • metals are very useful
    • they can be stretched into wire, flattened into sheets, and they are pretty flexible
• other useful minerals
  • some uses of minerals
    • talc can be used for talcum powder
    • fluorite is important for making aluminum and steel
    • clear calcite are used in optical instruments such as microscopes

Ores

• most metals don't occur in a pure form
• much of the world's copper comes from ores containing the mineral chalcopyrite

Prospecting

• a prospector is someone who prospects for ore deposits
• geologists prospect for ores by looking at certain features on the earth's surface
  • they observe the kinds of rocks on the land
  • they examine the plants that are growing
  • they test stream water for the presence of certain chemicals

Mining

• there are three types of mines
  • strip mines
    • earthmoving equipment scrapes away the soil to expose ores
  • shaft mines
    • shaft mines usually have a network of tunnels that extend deep into the ground, following the veins of ore
  • open pit mines
    • miners use giant earthmoving equipment to dig huge pits

Smelting

• after miners remove ore from a mine, they have to smelt it to remove the metals from the ore
  • heat causes the metals to separate from the oxygen with which it is combined